Ex-Nuveen Stock Trader Gets 70 Months for Insider-Trading Scheme

In one example provided by prosecutors, the scheme netted more than $55,000 in profits one day in August 2022 by shorting shares of Match Group Inc. ahead of substantial sales by Nuveen.

Williams pleaded guilty in September and is scheduled to be sentenced this fall.

Billimek faced a maximum of 20 years in prison, although white-collar criminals rarely receive the highest punishment available. He agreed not to contest any prison term of 87 months or less under his deal with the government, and had asked the judge to impose the “most lenient” sentence.

Billimek’s lawyers argued he was driven to the crime by financial difficulties and an obsession with providing for his family formed by a difficult childhood.

They said his struggles began after he was laid off from his job as a trader with Invesco Ltd. in 2009 and was unemployed for two years before accepting a job with Nuveen in San Francisco, where he struggled to make ends meet.

“It wasn’t about lifestyles of the rich and famous,” defense lawyer Marc Mukasey told the judge. “It was about having a large safety net.”

Billimek drove a Toyota, shopped at thrift stores and didn’t care for flashy watches, Mukasey said. But he did buy several properties, including multimillion dollar homes in Hawaii and Idaho.

Billimek agreed to forfeit a little more than $12 million under his deal with the government, including more than $4 million in cash and properties in Hawaii, Idaho, Louisiana, Oregon and Texas.

‘Thousands’ of Trades

Prosecutor Jason Richman pushed back against the characterization of a defendant who was just trying to make ends meet. Billimek “purchased multiple homes, some multimillion dollar homes,” all across the country, Richman said.

“This was not one year, this was not two years,” Richman said. “This was not one trade. This was thousands of occasions over the course of six years in which the defendant engaged in this.”

The government argued for at least a 70-month sentence to deter others from similar conduct. They also said that, while Billimek has no history of criminal activity, he needs to be incarcerated to stop him from returning to crime — noting that he has tens of thousands of dollars in monthly expenses and continues to day-trade from his home in New Orleans.

TIAA-CREF is seeking more than $38 million in compensation from Billimek, who argued that he shouldn’t have to pay restitution because of his diminished job prospects and lack of future earnings.

Billimek said much of his income and expenses come from the rental of some of the properties that are subject to forfeiture or sales of cryptocurrency investments. He said his expenses are likely to decrease when the properties are sold.

The case is U.S. v Billimek, 22-cr-675, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

(Credit: Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg)